On August 1, 2019 an investor reported to the Fremont Police Department that he had possibly been defrauded by Stokes related to an investment of two hundred one thousand dollars. The complaint alleges that the investment was for an alleged project in Africa purportedly involving popstar Taylor Swift. The victim provided copies of cancelled checks, unsecured promissory notes, and text messages to the Fremont Police Department that corroborated his complaint.
According to the complaint Stokes used fraudulent messages to continue to entice the investor including:
- On November 29, 2018, Stokes is claimed to have wrote: “We are getting close, a week, maybe two, I just had a long talk with Taylor about it in the middle of the night lol.”
- On May 8, 2019, Stokes is claimed to have wrote: “Taylor is meeting with Bill Gates and the rest of the sponsors who are paying out the commissions on May 20th To try in wrap things up, so we all get paid.”
- On June 12, 2019, Stokes is claimed to have wrote: “Trump’s illegally locked my bank accounts, and I’m fighting it in the Federal Bank Commission in the New Hampshire AG’s Office. Taylor is releasing a new song on Instagram in 30 minutes and I’m promoting it.”
In August 2019 LPL Financial discharged Stokes in connection with State of New Hampshire suspension of investment adviser agent and broker-dealer representative license.
Our law firm has significant experience bringing cases on behalf of defrauded victims when their advisors engage in receiving loans from clients or selling fraudulent securities sales through OBAs. The sale of unapproved investment products – is a practice known in the industry as “selling away” – a serious violation of the securities laws. In the industry the term selling away refers to when a financial advisor solicits investments in companies, promissory notes, or other securities that are not pre-approved by the broker’s affiliated firm. Sometimes those investments have some legitimacy but often times these types of investments can end up being Ponzi schemes or the advisor can be engaging in the conversion of funds.
When advisors convert or misappropriate funds they often create businesses or other vehicles to serve as a cover for the theft of funds. However, federal securities laws and the FINRA rules require firms to monitor and supervise its employees in order to detect and prevent brokers from offering investments in this fashion. In order to properly supervise their brokers each firm is required to have procedures in order to monitor the activities of each advisor’s activities and interaction with the public. Selling away misconduct often occurs where brokerage firms either fail to put in place a reasonable supervisory system or fail to actually implement that system. Supervisory failures allow brokers to engage in unsupervised misconduct that can include all manner improper conduct including selling away.
In cases of selling away the investor is unaware that the advisor’s investments are improper. In many of these cases the investor will not learn that the broker’s activities were wrongful until after the investment scheme is publicized, the broker is fired or charged by law enforcement, or stops returning client calls altogether.
Stokes entered the securities industry in 1998. From June 2009 until September 2019 Stokes was registered with LPL Financial out of the firm’s Bedford, New Hampshire office location.
Investors who have suffered losses are encouraged to contact us at (800) 810-4262 for consultation. Investors may be able recover their losses through securities arbitration. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are experienced in representing investors in cases of selling away and brokerage firms failure to supervise their representatives. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.